Means to connect a conduit to a container

ABSTRACT

A CONNECTOR INCLUDES A TUBULAR ELEMENT HAVING A LARGE DIAMETER PORTION AND A SMALL DIAMETER PORTION DEFINING A SHOULDER THEREBETWEEN. THE SMALL DIAMETER PORTION FITS INTO A RESILIENT GROMMET WHICH IN TURNS FITS INTO AN OPENING IN A CONTAINER. THE GROMMET IS SANDWICHED BETWEEN PROJECTIONS ON THE SMALL DIAMETER PORTION AND THE SHOULDER. RIBS EXTEND OUTWARDLY ADJACENT THE SHOULDER TO PRE-   VENT RELATIVE ROTATION BETWEEN THE ELEMENT AND THE GROMMET. THE DISTAL END OF THE SMALL DAMETER PORTION EXTENDS INTO THE CONTAINER AND HAS AN OBLIQUE CUT TO LOCALIZE FLOW FROM THE CONTAINER INTO THE ELEMENT TO INCREASE VELOCITY OF THE FLOW.

Feb. 23,1971" D. M. MULLINGS 3,565,456

v MEANS To CONNECT A CONDUIT TO A CONTAINER Filed Dec. 18. 1968 Fuel .INVENTOR. DONALD M. MULLINGS BY 5 a 6 \HS ATTORNEY United States Patent3,565,466 MEANS TO CONNECT A CONDUIT TO A CONTAINER Donald M. Mullings,Yardley, Pa., assignor to General Electric Company, a corporation of NewYork Filed Dec. 18, 1968, Ser. No. 784,565 Int. Cl. F161 5/02 US. Cl.285-158 4 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A connector includes atubular element having a large diameter portion and a small diameterportion defining a shoulder therebetween. The small diameter portionfits into a resilient grommet which in turn fits into an opening in acontainer. The grommet is sandwiched between projections on the smalldiameter portion and the shoulder. Ribs extend outwardly adjacent theshoulder to prevent relative rotation between the element and thegrommet. The distal end of the small diameter portion eX- tends into theconainer and has an oblique cut to localize flow from the container intothe element to increase velocity of the flow.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention, although notnecessarily limited to such application, is particularly useful toconnect a drain conduit to a humidifier for a warm air furnace.Accordingly, in order to give a clear understanding of the presentinvention and its background, it is described and shown in associationwith such humidifier.

Such a humidifier is usually installed on the hot air distribution ductor furnace plenum of the heating system. Among other elements, thehumidifier includes an evaporating element through which water ispassed. The evaporating element may comprise a wettable filter-like padhaving a high surface area through which hot furnace air can be drawn. Aslight amount of excess water is allowed to drain from the element andaccumulate in a sump to be removed through the drain connection of thepresent invention. This continuous draining or flushing action tends tokeep mineral concentrations at a minimum by allowing them to be washedaway by the flow instead of collecting on the internal parts of thehumidifier.

Difliculties have been experienced during the installation of suchhumidifiers due to the cramped working conditions in certain furnaceareas which makes it difli cult to make a universal design of humidifierfor many sets of conditions for bringing in the electrical power, thewater supply and the drain conduit for accommodating the water overflow.Sometimes the humidifier can only be mounted on the underside of theduct and other times it has to be mounted on the vertical side of theduct, or furnace plenum, and these conditions require specialconsideration. To provide some degree of versatility, the humidifiercabinet or container may be provided with knockout portions in variouswalls of the container so that regardless of the orientation of thehumidifier, one of the knockout portions will be at the lowermost point.Thus, that knockout portion can be removed to provide an opening at thelowermost point to which a drain conduit can be connected.

3,565,466 Patented Feb. 23, 1971 Thus, it is desirable to provide aconnector, to secure the drain conduit to the humidifier, which can beshipped separately with the humidifier and later installed in one ofseveral locations on the humidifier cabinet depending upon the requiredorientation of the cabinet. Moreover, to enable the homeowner, who maynot possess a wide assortment of plumbing tools, to install a humidifierand easily attach a drain conduit to the humidifier, it is desirable toprovide a male hose fitting so that a standard hose can be used as thedrain conduit.

Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide an improvedmeans to connect a conduit to an opening in the Wall of a container.

It is another object of this invention to provide such connector whichis easily installed by hand without need for special tools.

It is a further object of this invention to provide such connector whichincludes means to simply manually connect a conduit thereto.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Briefly stated, in accordance with one aspectof the invention, there is provided means to connect a conduit to anopening in the Wall of a container and comprises a tubular elementhaving a first portion of reduced size and a second portion of enlargedsize defining a shoulder therebetween. A resilient grommet encircles thefirst portion adjacent the shoulder and has a central opening ofslightly smaller size than the first portion of the tubular element. Thegrommet further has a peripheral groove to receive the peripheral edgeof the opening in the container wall. The first portion has at least oneinclined projection spaced from the shoulder a distance slightly lessthan the thickness of the grommet whereby the element is secured to thegrommet by sandwiching the grommet between the projection and theshoulder. At least one rib projects from the element adjacent theshoulder to extend into said grommet and prevent rotation of the elementrelative to the grommet. The distal end of the first portion has anoblique cut to localize flow from the container into the element andthus increase velocity of the flow to minimize accumulation of slime orscale.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING While the specification concludes withclaims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subjectmatter which is regarded as the invention, it is believed the inventionwill be better understood from the following description of thepreferred embodiments taken in connection with the accompanying drawing,in which:

FIG. 1 is an elevational view of a humidifier employing the presentinvention;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary sectional view taken along line 22 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view similar to FIG. 2 but looking at the devicefrom the right hand side of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the tubular element of the presentinvention; and

FIG. 5 is a. view similar to FIG. 3, but showing a modification of thepresent invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring now to the drawing,and initially, to FIG. 1 thereof, there is illustrated a humidifier 10having an outer cabinet or container 11 to which a connector 12 has beenassembled to connect a conduit to the container 11.

Referring now to FIG. 2, details of the connector 12 are illustrated. Itcan be seen that the bottom wall of container 11, as container 11 isoriented in FIG. 1, has a depressed portion 13 forming a sump 14. Anopening 15 has been provided in depressed portion 13 and it is withinopening 15 that connector 12 has been installed. Connector 12 includes atubular element 16 having a first portion 17 of reduced size and asecond portion 18 of enlarged size defining a shoulder 19 therebetween.Element 16 is hollow and defines a central passageway 20 therethrough sothat liquid may pass through element 16 from sump 14.

A resilient grommet 21 is provided to secure element 16 within opening15 and to provide a liquid-tight seal between element 16 and container11. Grommet 21 has a peripheral groove 22 to receive the peripheral edgeof opening 15. In order to reasonably assure a liquid-tight seal betweengrommet 21 and that portion of container 11 defining opening 15, thedimensions of groove 22 are made slightly less than the dimensions ofopening 15 so that there is a slightly interfering fit therebetween.Grommet 21 also has a central opening 23 therethrough to receive portion17 of element 16. Central opening 23 is of slightly smaller size thanthe external size of portion 17 again to assure a reasonablyliquid-tight seal between grommet 21 and portion 17. With thisarrangement, grommet 21 encircles portion 17 adjacent shoulder 19, andwith groove 22 receiving the peripheral edge of opening 15, aliquid-tight seal is provided between element 16 and container 11.

Element 16 is secured to grommet 21 by a sandwiching action betweenshoulder 19 and a plurality of inclined projections 24 which projectfrom the outer surface of portion 17 and which are spaced from shoulder19 a distance slightly less than the thickness of grommet 21. Theinclined surfaces of projections 24 terminate with a fiat surface 25generally perpendicular to the axis of element 16. It is, of course,surface 25 which engages and bears against the surface of grommet 21 toeffect the sandwiching action in cooperation with annular shoulder 19.

As mentioned above, it is desirable to provide a male hose fitting sothat a standard hose, such as a portion of a garden hose, can be used asa drain conduit to allow a homeowner to install the drain conduitwithout requiring the need for an assortment of plumbing tools. To carryout this objective, in the preferred form of the present invention,portion 18 is formed with a cylindrical outer surface of a sizeconsistent with a standard garden hose male fitting and is provided withan external screw thread 26. Because certain torsional forces will beexerted on element 16 as a female hose fitting is threaded onto thread26, means are provided to prevent rotation of element 16 relative tocabinet 11. In the preferred form of the present invention, this meanstakes the form of a plurality of ribs 27 each projecting from element 16adjacent shoulder 19 so as to extend into grommet 21 when grommet 21 issandwiched between surfaces 25 and shoulder 19. In the preferred form ofthe invention, the material from which grommet 21 is made is resilientenough to receive ribs 27 without an actual piercing action occurring soas to retain the integrity of grommet 21 and minimize leakage.

It is an object of the present invention to provide means to connect aconduit to an opening in the wall in the container which is easilyinstalled by a homeowner without the requirement of tools. The foregoingarrangement is very simply installed by first inserting resilientgrommet 21 into opening 15 so that the peripheral edge of opening 15 isreceived within peripheral groove 22. Portion 17 of element 16 is theninserted into central opening 23 of grommet 21 with inclined projections24 passing through grommet 21 until surfaces 25 come into engagement,and sandwiching relationship, with the surface of grommet 21. Because ofthe relative snugness of fit between portion 17 and opening 23, alubricant may be applied to portion 17 to facilitate insertion intoopening 23. It should be noted that assembly is further enhanced by thepresent invention in that installation may be effected from outsidecontainer 11 thus making it easier to manipulate the elements duringassembly.

In a humidifier such as that described herein, tap water is used becauseof its convenience and economy. Such tap water may contain a relativelyhigh concentration of mineral deposits which have a tendency to collectwithin the system. Furthermore, the water being circulated over theevaporating element may remove additional foreign matter from the air sothat during the heating season several pounds of scale-forming materialmay collect in the humidifier system. Since the drain connectiondescribed therein is a low-flow device, calcium deposits accumulate onthe evaporating element as well as on the walls forming the sump andthey tend to clog the passageways, especially in the vicinity of thedrain connection. The reason for this clogging is the tendency forsediment and residues of the evaporation process to collect in aslime-like material around the inlet to the drain connection. The runoffis slow when the upper or distal end of portion 17 is cut square, in ahorizontal plane, since the flow will then extend completely around theinlet edge. Slime or scale will build up at this point of low velocity,possibly to the extent of eventually clogging the entire drain outlet.

One way to reduce this accumulation of slime and scale is to increasethe velocity of flow. This can be done by providing an oblique cut atthe distal end of portion 17 which will localize fiow from the containerinto element 16 at the lowermost edge of the distal end of portion 17.This increase in velocity of the flow tends to minimize accumulation ofslime or scale. In the embodiment of FIGS. 2, 3 and 4, the oblique cuttruncates the entire cross section of portion 17.

FIG. 5 illustrates an alternate method of localizing flow from thecontainer 11 into element 16 which involves an oblique cut defining agenerally V-shaped notch 28. The V-shaped notch has one advantage overthe truncated arrangement in that it provides additional surface area onthe portion 17 to allow better spacing of projections thereabout. Itwill be appreciated that a tubular element 16 may be constructed fromany suitable noncorrosive material. It has been found in practice that amoldable plastic or nylon material works very well in this application.

It now should be apparent that the present invention provides animproved means to connect a conduit to an opening in the wall of acontainer such as, for example, the cabinet of a warm air furnacehumidifier. This connector is easily installed onto the container byhand without need for tools and includes means to connect a conduitthereto by hand without need for tools.

As will be evident from the foregoing description, certain aspects ofthe invention are not limited to the particular details of constructionof the examples illustrated, and it is contemplated that othermodifications or applications may occur to those skilled in the art. Itis therefore intended that the appended claims shall cover suchmodifications and applications as do not depart from the true spirit andscope of the invention.

What I claim as new and desire to be secured by Letters Patent of theUnited States is:

1. Means to connect a conduit to an opening in the wall of a containercomprising:

a tubular element having a first portion of reduced size and a secondportion of enlarged size defining a shoulder therebetween,

a resilient grommet encircling said first portion adjacent said shoulderand having a central opening of slightly smaller size than said firstportion of said tubular element,

said grommet further having a peripheral groove to receive theperipheral edge of the opening in the container Wall,

said first portion having at least one inclined projection spaced fromsaid shoulder a distance slightly less than the thickness of saidgrommet whereby said element is secured to said grommet by sandwichingsaid grommet between said projection and said shoulder,

at least one rib projecting from said element adjacent said shoulder toextend into said grommet and prevent rotation of said element relativeto said grommet, and

the distal end of said first portion having an oblique cut to localizeflow from the container into said element and thus increase velocity ofthe flow to minimize accumulation of slime or scale.

2. The invention of claim 1 wherein a screw thread is provided on theexternal surface of said second portion whereby an external conduit maybe threaded thereto.

3. The invention of claim 1 wherein said oblique cut defines a generallyV-shaped notch.

4. The invention of claim 1 wherein said oblique cut truncates theentire cross section of said first portion.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS THOMAS F. CALLAGHAN, PrimaryExaminer U.S. Cl. X.R.

